Opposition Begets Conflict

Friday night, I saw a performance of Guys and Dolls at one of the local high schools.  The best part of it was that the lead male characters (Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson) were played by best friends.  They couldn't look more different: Nathan's actor is tall and round, with an adorable look about him and Sky's actor, while also tall, is very lean and striking.  Both are talented and both are fun fellas to know.  It was wonderful to see the pair of them playing alongside each other.  To cap it off, they thanked each other in their actor bios found in the program.  Aww.

Opposition sets the stage for conflict.  When two characters don't (or won't) see eye-to-eye, that's where conflict brews.  The fumes of conflict are tension and the rising of stakes, and they only dissipate when the conflict is resolved, either by mutual understanding or, as I prefer to write it, by force.  Each side of the conflict needs to engage the reader in its own way so that she cares how the conflict is resolved.  Otherwise, she's going to be donating that book to the library pretty quick.

I've known many people who call themselves writers and admit they don't like conflict in real life, so they don't include it in what they write.  All their characters think the same, feel the same, even look the same.  I've read some of this type of writing.  I didn't like it.  It bored me.

Look, very few people in the world enjoy conflict.  Life would be so much easier without it but it's a natural result of differences and passion.  That's why it makes for good reading!  If a writer is afraid to approach conflict, then that writer is probably afraid to write.

Don't be afraid.  Embrace the opposition.  Write with passion.  Everything else will follow.

Have you ever struggled with writing conflict?  How do you utilize opposition in your writing?  How different are you from your best friend?  How are you the same?

The Power of the End

When a new idea comes to me, it arrives end first.  That's the only point of reference I'm given and I'm left to figure out how everything else gets there.  This allows me a ton of freedom to create and destroy as I see fit, so long as I keep the last few scenes honest to the original vision.  However, it causes a lot of problems when it comes to designing my characters.

When I first started working on my current WiP, I hysterically went to a trusted friend, informing her that I had no idea if one of my main characters was good or not.  He felt dangerous and I didn't trust him, but all signs pointed to a hero.  I was very confused.  She encouraged me to explore the character without fear.  Then she laughed.  Not cruelly, because I'm pretty sure she can't laugh cruelly at anyone, but honestly.  She then informed me she found it humorous that someone who writes such solid characters with such solid endings has so much trouble with beginnings.

I could list a number of reasons why I think this is, some likely, some profound, and some just donkey poo.  The truth is, I don't really know why beginnings elude me.  I don't know why I have to go through anywhere from six to thirty false starts before I find my way into my own idea.  Perhaps it stems from lack of confidence.  When I first start a novel, I'm going through a variety of emotions, the strongest being that I am not capable to do justice to the story.  I move along slowly, watching my step, trying to stay on track.  About a hundred or so pages in, I reach the "screw it" phase and everything falls into place a little faster.  This leads to burnout around page 250, where I'm pretty much back to where I started as far as confidence goes.  Then the 300th page usually brings me to the end, where I shine.  (These numbers are obviously arbitrary.  My first novel is over 400 pages and my second just over 200.  My WiP is actually the first in a trilogy which means thousands of pages overall.)

Endings matter to me.  If you hook me from the beginning, good for you, but if you don't deliver up to that final page, I'm afraid our future together looks bleak.  Every part of a novel is important because they all work together to create the final product.  However, I find an entire story is forgettable if the ending doesn't knock me out.  That may be why I spend so much time with my endings, and probably why my beginnings suffer in the first draft.

What part of a novel matters the most to you as a reader? as a writer?  Where do you struggle most in your drafts?

OT: Robins and Other New Things

While backing out of the driveway last Thursday morning, I caught sight of a robin hopping along the street.  I hit the brake and began to cry.  Finally, the end of winter is imminent.  The sun will be replacing the clouds more regularly.  Warm temperatures will force my leather coat and Gryffindor scarf back into the closet.  And I will return to my much-preferred state of pleasantness.

I hate winter.  I truly do.  I don't care that my birthday is smack in the middle of it.  (Besides, my birthday is notorious for things going wrong and who wants to celebrate that?)  I hate the cold.  I hate snow.  I hate ice.  I hate having to wake up twenty minutes early so that my car has enough time to defrost its windows.  And I really, really hate coats, gloves, and scarves.  There are few things more irritating to me than having to rummage around in my purse with gloves on.  I can't get my fingers on anything.

But the snow has melted around here and I have seen a couple robins since Thursday.  Saturday I went to the store and compulsively texted my mom pictures of all the spring-related items on display.  I even bought Easter window clings because they were only $0.97 and why shouldn't I put up window clings of bunnies and chicks and butterflies?

Spring signifies the newness of things to come.  My new year really begins around this time.  I start to dream again.  I start to re-evaluate and plan for things I'd like to achieve before autumn returns.  And I'm much nicer to be around, which makes life a little more bearable for everyone involved.
 
Are you excited for the arrival of spring?  What would you like to achieve in the coming fair-weather months?

Insecure Writer's Support Group: March

My writerly insecurities in the past month have stemmed from the need to engage in social networking.  Stress at work has multiplied, I'm trying to balance my WiP with a new project that isn't completely writer-related, as well as seeking to maintain a life outside of the real-life office and the fictional worlds I oscillate between most often.  Add to that a wrist injury that has rendered it impossible for me to hold more than a couple pounds in my left hand and two pretty severe bumps on my head, and it's a wonder I made myself get out of bed at all recently.  As a result, I have spent little to no time on Twitter and even less time blog-hopping.  It concerns me because I know that maintaining a virtual presence is integral to success in a lot of industries anymore.  I write scheduled blog posts on the weekend, thinking that will open up time for me to engage in other platform-building activities during the week but it hasn't done anything of the sort.  I do worry that one day I'll log onto Blogger or Twitter and find that all my followers have left me.  (Not that I base my worth on how many followers I have but I'm sure you understand where I'm coming from.)

I'm pretty good at time management.  Everything gets done -- and gets done right -- usually with no requests for extensions.  But when it comes to managing everything in my writing life, well, it seems to fall more and more apart each week.

I want to produce the best work I possibly can.  But how am I supposed to do that when my body shuts down at 6:00 and my brain follows shortly thereafter almost every day?  And then to have enough energy to read tens of blogs, to touch base with all the people I care about, and to participate in writerly activities?  It makes me tired just thinking about it.

I guess if this is the worst thing I have to complain about, I'm doing pretty well.  But I do wish I could be more involved.  Hopefully I won't be forgotten during this time of readjustment.

How do you manage to balance all the things that go into maintaining a balance in your writing life?  Do you find yourself feeling guilty for the time not spent engaging with your peers?

Putting in the Work

I haven't exactly been subtle regarding my aspiration to become the healthiest, fittest version of myself possible.  To do so, I've taken the old-fashioned route: a combination of healthy diet and regular exercise that results in more calories burned than taken in.  Anyone who's ever tried to lose weight this way knows it takes hard work, constant motivation, and a huge helping of mind over matter.  Some days, I want to give it up.  I want to have a bowl of ice cream or watch an hour of TV sitcoms (or do both at the same time!).  These are usually the days after a really intense workout that leaves my whole body tingling, or days when food isn't particularly an option due to previous commitments.  But when I get on the scale or wrap that measuring tape around myself Sunday morning and I see another pound lost or another two inches gone, it doesn't seem like such a challenge to pick a banana over a cookie or skip Everybody Loves Raymond in favor of another killer workout.

I won't lie: Occasionally I do wish I didn't see results.  If I wasn't getting results, then I could say "well, diet and exercise don't work.  Let's take a different [re: easier] route."  The truth is, diet and exercise have been working for me for almost four years.  I slack sometimes but because I've seen what can happen when I put the work in, it's easy for me to get back on track.

I've been going through a slacking period in my writing.  I have a thousand excuses to explain it away but really, it comes down to not being willing to put the work in.  I want to veg right before bed rather than scribble out a couple hundred words.  I'd rather have lunch with a co-worker than sit alone in my office, choking down another PB&J sandwich while trying to hear my characters' voices over the screaming children in the lobby.  But the same thing applies: I've seen the results of working diligently on a story.  It's not going to write itself so something has to give.

I have to give.  Just a little bit every day.  Words will turn into pages of words and, eventually, I'll reach the end.  Which, of course, will only be the beginning of yet another adventure.

Do you have a hard time putting in the work?  What do you do to get yourself back on track toward achieving your goals?